


Snow Day

by Quicksilver_Rain



Category: Thrilling Intent (Web Series)
Genre: Ashe and Thog are Best Friends, Dancing, Gen, POV Gregor, Party Bonding, Party as Family, Snow Day, The Attic is Mentioned, Thog's A Theatre Kid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-04 00:01:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17887664
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Quicksilver_Rain/pseuds/Quicksilver_Rain
Summary: There were very few things Gregor hated more than snow.Monsters were one of them.Injustice was another.So, in order: Monsters, Injustice, Snow.And actually, he wasn't too fond of this dancing nonsense, either.(it's a story about dancing, culture and bonding with your friends)





	Snow Day

**Author's Note:**

> This is more or less cross-posted from Tumblr, with a couple things re-written, because 2015 was a long time ago and more paragraphs for readability. 
> 
> Original (edited) Tumblr Ramblings in the End Notes

Gregor hated snow.

It was too wet and sloshy and slick and last time Gregor'd tried to train out in it, he'd slipped and smashed his elbow on a rock hidden beneath the slush and had to find someone to heal it.

It still clicked sometimes when it was cold, and he extended his arm too fast.

The fact of the matter was, the ground outside was steadily being covered with white flakes, and Gregor wasn't going to go out into the freezing hellscape the island had become, so here he was, glaring at the ice building up on the panes and ignoring the tendrils of cold that snuck in through the cracks between the window and wall when he _could_ be training.

He could hear Kier shouting about what his latest machine was _supposed_ to be doing versus what it was _actually_ doing, i.e. something it inevitably shouldn't.

Nearby, Ashe and Thog were resolutely ignoring Kier, like maybe nothing would get set on fire if they pretended nothing was wrong, chatting about their last job and how just staying home and running the bar was looking better and better. Thog had a new scar on the inside of his arm and Ashe kept apologizing, even though Thog would just wave his hand as if he were trying to get rid of a gnat and say he'd had worse, which was probably true.

Charoth was sitting between them, chirping and probably planning to eat them all when they fell asleep or something.

It was Markus, actually, that caused Gregor to abandon his current activity, which basically boiled down to staring out the window and bemoaning his lost training time.

Rather, it wasn't Markus that distracted Gregor, so much as it was the fact that Gregor couldn't seem to locate him.

Usually, Markus would either be sitting next to Kier, alternately offering advice and enthused motivational support, or between Ashe and Thog, chattering away about whatever it was the three of them usually talked about when they had the opportunity to sit together without some kind of crisis hanging over them.

Gregor didn’t have much time to ponder the mystery of his friend’s absence, because it was solved mere moments later, when the friend in question quite literally kicked the bar door open, shaking errant snowflakes and glitter of dubious origin off himself. He was holding a lute aloft like some kind of prize and looked tremendously pleased with himself about it. "Guys! Look what I finally found!"

He watched Ashe and Thog exchange worried glances. After the obsidian fife incident _and_ the Velafintines Day thing, they'd developed an intense aversion to any and all musical instruments wielded by Markus, with good reason, really.

Markus grinned widely and hopped up on to the table beside Kier, who scooped all his smoking, sparking and partially on fire mechanical minutiae out of the way. Allowing Markus to walk uninterrupted along the tabletop, tuning the lute as he went.

"I was _won_ dering where this went. I found it in the attic, behind a box of assorted items that tasted cursed." He paused to stick his tongue out, as if to illustrate. "By the way, someone should look into that."

Thog looked like he was about to respond, probably with yelling, but Kier cut him off with an enthused, " _we have an attic?_ " He already looked a little over-excited about the prospect and Gregor watched Ashe and Thog exchange another round of worried glances with each other as Kier continued, oblivious. "We could turn it into Mecha Imp Central!"

Markus made that noise he made when he enthusiastically agreed with whatever someone was saying. A sort of cross between an affirmation and a question, and usually, it made Gregor smile, but the snow had sapped him of his good mood and instead, he simply frowned deeper.

"So besides putting more holes in the goddamn roof, what exactly are you _doing?_ " Thog asked dryly from the bar, setting his glass of paint thinner down on the table. Gregor didn't actually know _what_ Thog drank, but it smelled like the tin of turpentine in Kier's workshop, and it probably wasn’t very good for him, either.

Markus strummed at his lute and grinned even wider, if that was possible. "Why, Thog, I'm so glad you asked!"

Thog's scowl darkened slightly and one of his eyebrows perked, though he didn't say anything in favor of simply taking a massive gulp of whatever was in his cup, for strength, Gregor assumed. He let out a measured sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose, evidently debating whether or not it was worth it to tell Markus to fuck off or not, before growling an irritated, "go _on_."

"It's snowing outside," Markus announced, hopping around on the table and spinning wildly, which prompted Kier to hold up a hand for him to grab when he nearly fell over.

Ashe turned to join the conversation, her hand still wrapped loosely around the bottle she'd been drinking from. " _Really Markus?_ I hadn't noticed."

"Now Aesling," he chided, still holding Kier's hand. "No need to be sarcastic, I'm _getting_ to it."

Ashe made a motion for him to continue. "Oh, then by all means, tell us why you're hopping around on the furniture like an idiot,” a pause, “with a lute." She smiled, maybe a little meanly, and Thog snorted.

Markus, for his part, ignored them and let go of Kier to play a chord on the instrument. It didn’t sound too bad, certainly not as ear-splitting as the obsidian fife, nor as disconcerting as the Velafentines Day song. " _Gladly_."

He continued to play as he meandered down the length of the table, occasionally stepping on the ladder backs of the chairs with a deceptive amount of balance for someone that routinely tripped over their limbs.

"So, as I was _saying_ before you so rudely interrupted…” He glared at Thog and Ashe, who looked wholly unrepentant about the whole thing. “It's snowing out. In fact, Dont says that we're probably going to get snowed in, and _I_ thought that maybe, since we're going to be stuck here anyway and Thog-" Markus whipped around, using the stock of the lute to point at the object of his ranting in illustration.

Thog sneered back at him, probably more out of reflex more than anything.

"-keeps yelling at us whenever we try to make improvements to the bar-"

"Like _hell_ ," Thog growled, splaying his hands on the bar and leaning forward slightly, like he was seriously thinking about leaping over the counter to go and strangle Makrus with his bare hands. "Setting everything on fire at all hours of the fucking day and night and putting holes all over the fucking place is  _not_ improving the fucking bar, Markus. You-"

"- _thought_ ,” Markus shouted, drowning out the rest of whatever Thog was going to add. “That we could play some music to lighten the mood, since everyone's been _so grumpy_ as of late."

He looked pointedly at everyone in turn, as if that proved his point, still strumming the lute lazily.

Ashe rolled her eyes. "Thog almost lost an _arm_ a couple weeks ago, Markus," she said by way of explanation, gesturing at the object of conversation.

Thog waved her concern away, rolling his eyes. "Its _fine_ , Ashe."

She pulled her gaze away from Markus, which under most circumstances was a little dangerous, but must have seemed safe enough for the moment, to glare at Thog in something like exasperation, which Thog steadfastly ignored.

Markus, for his part, apparently took the ensuing silence as his queue to begin playing a fast-paced tune, still hopping around on the table like some sort of overly excitable fairy. Kier followed behind him, both feet firmly on the floor, hands lifted to steady Markus as he bobbed around in an attempt to make sure he didn’t fall and kill himself by accident.

The song continued for a few moments, the kind of music that got people clapping and singing along, though Gregor didn't feel like doing either.

Instead, he watched, maybe a little sulky, as Markus kept at it, fingers flying over the frets, looking like he was enjoying himself as he weaved something that sounded a bit like crowded nights and laughing and rolling hills into the air and Gregor wondered how he’d figured out to make a lute make those noises.

"How do you know this song?" Ashe suddenly called over the music, sounding a strange mix of happy and sad. She had the homesick look on her face she sometimes got when she thought no one was looking and was watching Markus like she was a little scared he might bite.

Markus didn't so much as stumble over his chord, turning away from where he was looking out the window to face her. "I'm a well-traveled man, dear Aesling, I know many things." He spun again, nodding appreciatively at Kier, who’d pushed Markus back onto his feet when he’d started listing to the side, heaving him back up onto the table proper. "For example, I know this is a traditional Meathean song, and that there's a traditional Meathean dance to go with it, and that you, my snow haired beauty, are very familiar with it."

Ashe went pink and shook her head, suddenly looking shy.

Markus laughed, though not maliciously. "I might have been wrong."

Of course, Gregor could tell he'd only said it as a dare, because they all knew Ashe wouldn’t back down from a challenge, no matter how stupid it was.

"C'mon, Ashe," Kier called, his foot tapping with the tune, looking positively _delighted_. "Show us your dance, _please_?"

Ashe looked over her shoulder at Thog, whose face had slid into a smirk and that implied he was going to offer her precisely zero help which prompted her to frown and sigh heavily, standing from her seat.

" _Fine_."

She placed her weapons none too gently on the table as she stood, the bottle and Thog’s cup rattling from the impact. She paused long enough to pin Thog with a look that clearly said, _'traitor_ ,' and was answered with one of Thog's rare smiles. Then she dusted off her hands, turningto make her away to the center of the big, mostly empty room, bouncing slightly in time to the music.

"You'll have to step it up, Markus, I don't slow dance."

For a moment, she stood fairly still as Markus complied, before taking off in a seemingly random direction. She spun around, moving in time with the music, a serious look on her face that gave way to a wide smile as she made her way around the room.

Gregor knew that Ashe was fairly light, in fact, he could lift her with one arm if he really tried, but he'd never thought of her as particularly graceful, since she seemed, more often than not, to forgo poise for power. She was certainly graceful now, though, he thought, watching her spin and skip over the creaking floorboards, barely making a sound as she went.

It spoke of years of practice and Gregor wondered when she found the time to do so.

She'd nearly made it back to the center of the room when the music suddenly changed to something that sounded much more like harsh winters and shoes on cobblestones and bare trees.

Ashe came to a stop, spinning one last time, breathing hard and still grinning despite the change in tone. She turned to the bar and giggled as Markus continued strumming, his movements much less erratic despite the song being just as fast paced as the one previous.

He swayed a little, grinning a little bit like something with too many teeth. "Thog should recognize this one," he called over the tune, prompting Gregor to look over to see several expressions that, surprisingly, weren't disappointment or irritation pass over Thog’s face: surprise, nostalgia and something that might have resembled delight. Markus winked at him. "A _traditional_ Alerani tune, if I'm not mistaken, played at weddings, mergers, in the squares, you know, places with a big enough venue to dance in."

Ashe let out a triumphant laugh, nearly running over to the bar, skittering to a stop before she hit the counter and slamming her hands on top of it. "Come _on_ _Thog_ , you know this song, doncha?"

Gregor saw another smile flash across the other's face before he reigned it in, leaning forward slightly and smirking. "I do, but unfortunately, this is a _couple's_ song."

She wrinkled her nose at him, like she was offended about something as she straightened. "You and I _both_ know I spent six months in Meadshire. I know how to _dance_."

He rolled his eyes and for a moment Gregor thought he was going to say no and tell Ashe to go fuck herself, but instead he set down his glass of paint thinner and hopped over the bar, shaking his head and looking about as cocky as Gregor had ever seen him. "Better keep up, then, _Ashe_."

Thog was a lot quieter than Gregor would have thought he'd be, considering all the noise he made when stomping around the bar, but now that he'd directed his attention to the pair of them, he noticed that neither was making much noise at all as they stepped into the middle of the room, facing each other as they waited for a queue Gregor couldn’t hear. He also noticed that Thog's movements were much sharper and measured than Ashe's were, even though they were presumably dancing to the same song.

Markus chuckled over the music. "You need to work on your form, Aesling!"

Ashe glared over her shoulder at him and stuck out her tongue.

Thog barked out a laugh that sounded a lot more like a cough than anything. "He's right, your posture's _terrible!_ "

She sighed, rolled her eyes, and straightened slightly to match Thog's stance, smiling as they crossed some imaginary line and continued around the room. "Better?"

"No, but it'll do," Thog quipped, grabbing her hand and switching places again. "Better than nothing."

It should have been jarring, what with Ashe's apparent inability to properly match Thog's own movements, but they both were quite good and seemed to be enjoying themselves. They didn't even seem mind when the music changed a third time to something that Gregor recognized as one of the songs that the Spiritfolk had played during their week long binge some months before, the tune somehow sounding like a noisy room and the feeling of sunshine on his face, but like raindrops and the salt spray of the ocean and a warm fire all at the same time, and it would have made him feel dizzy, except it also felt like home.

Kier jumped up excitedly, clapping his hands. " _I know this one!_ "

He wrapped an arm around Markus' middle, pulling the blonde off the table and laughing as they spun around before Kier deposited him on the floor. Kier swung Markus around again, and it was a little impressive, because Markus managed to keep to the tune of the song despite the fact that he was now hopping around like an imp that had been given too much sugar.

They all continued on like that for a few minutes following some kind of imaginary pattern that seemed to be drawn out on the floor, apparently having picked up the steps at some point during their time on the Isles. Markus and Kier were laughing and Ashe was teasing Thog about his inability to relax and they all looked like they were having fun, and Gregor went back to staring grumpily out the window.

"Hey Gregor?"

He startled a little and looked up at the sound of his own name. "Yeah? What's up?"

Ashe had broken off from the group, leaving Thog at the mercy of Kier and Markus, who were dancing like they did everything: overly enthusiastically.

She ignored Thog's strangled shout for help as Kier spun him around and leaned against the windowsill to speak with Gregor, instead. "How come you're not dancing?"

Now that he thought about it, there hadn't been any time to dance when his parents had been alive. Sure, they'd been poor, but that hadn't meant they had time for frivolous things like _dancing._ No one had really danced when he'd been with the Outriders, either, there was too much training and monster hunting to do.

And now?

Well, usually he was just simply too busy to partake in any of the dancing the Spiritfolk did.

He shook his head, glancing over at Charoth, who had slunk off the bar and had instead perched on the table Markus had previously been standing on, bouncing in time with the music.

Gregor shook his head. "I don't dance. Too much to do."

Ashe tilted her head at him, glancing out the window and then over at the trio opposite her. Thog had stopped being manhandled and Kier was laughing again, like it was surprised out of him and he couldn’t stop it. "Not right now, there isn't."

He shrugged.

Ashe's voice got quiet and she leaned down slightly when she finally spoke. "No one taught you how to dance, did they?" She didn't sound particularly piteous, but that didn't stop Gregor from scowling at her.

"No one had the time, did they?" he snapped despite himself, expecting her to shout at him in response, if only because that had been rude.

What surprised him, however, was that instead of yelling, she levered herself off the windowsill, grabbed his hand and pulled him to his feet, turning to speak to the others. "Markus, play something slower."

Markus acquiesced without a question and Gregor suddenly found himself pushed into Thog's chest, with hands coming up to catch him before he could hit the ground. He dragged Gregor to his feet. "Come on, up you go."

Gregor would have apologized and slunk off to go hide somewhere until the impromptu party was over, but Thog didn't let go of his arm.

"Just pay attention to the beat, eh?" he part asked, part commanded, "left foot first."

Gregor would have asked what _that_ was supposed to mean, but suddenly he was being propelled through the circle everyone was standing in. He passed by Ashe, if a very controlled fall could be called that, and she grabbed his hands, steadying him before spinning in a quick circle. She abandoned him, then, pushing him the way she came before filling the empty spot by Thog.

Gregor stumbled into Kier, mostly because he couldn’t correct his trajectory, crashing into the mechanic with a bone rattling _thud_.

"Great job, Gregor!" Kier shouted, smiling so brightly that it kind of hurt to look at him. "Switch places with me!"

He barely had time to process before he was tripping around Kier's much bulkier form, only to be pulled backward once he'd gotten his footing.

Markus winked at him and wrapped his tail around Gregor's wrist, practically singing, "~ _follow me~,"_ as he towed Gregor around the circle.

It was a lot easier than it looked, surprisingly, and aside from the occasional push or tap, Gregor caught on fairly quickly and…

And it was _fun_.

He'd always thought that dancing was a bit of a waste, something to do when one was avoiding responsibilities but…

He glanced at Thog when he grabbed Gregor’s wrist, spun him in a circle, much like Ashe had when this whole thing had started, and switched places with him.

…but there was a _lot_ of coordination and team work that went into it.

He slipped past Ashe and continued moving around the circle, it was surprising how well everyone managed to move, as if they were a cohesive unit, rather than the mess they became when they were fighting a common enemy.

Funny, how that worked, he thought, watching Kier and Ashe skipped to the middle of the circle, Kier practically pulled Ashe off her feet as they spun and prompting her to laugh as she stumbled back to the edge of the ring, falling into Markus and Thog, who caught her without missing a note.

And to think, if the weather hadn't been so terrible, Markus wouldn’t be playing songs that made him think of home, smiling and hopping around like an over excited child. Kier wouldn’t be swinging anyone around borderline violently as he went through the motions, shouting apologies and filling the room with his booming laughter. Ashe wouldn’t be giggling as she was spun around until she was dizzy and breathless and about to fall over herself. Thog wouldn’t be smirking and deftly catching people when they stumbled, easily slipping through the steps like it was as natural as the sunrise. He wouldn’t have been prompted to join in the festivities, he'd never have realized how _nice_ it was to have someone teach him things that weren't good for anything besides a bit of fun.

He never would have realized how much this new, broken little family of his cared.

Gregor was beginning to like the snow.

**Author's Note:**

> Allegedly, this fic happened because I was listening to Home No More with one of my buddies, and it made me think about world building and that's my jam, so here we are.
> 
> If anyone's wondering:
> 
> Meathe reminds me of Ireland  
> Aleran of Russia  
> Xin’Challa of Sri Lanka  
> and The Shrouded Isles of a sort of weird mix of several different places (though Greece is somewhere on that list)
> 
> So yeah. It's a whole-ass thing.
> 
> Also, I refuse to believe that Thog is even remotely written out of character, considering what Moran said about him when he was still in Aleran. Fight me about it.


End file.
